


The Arrangement

by hazelnootspread



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-06-13 01:35:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15353310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelnootspread/pseuds/hazelnootspread
Summary: Jake Peralta has never been one for his father's little side business of marrying off his kids for money. But it's just what he does. No matter who Roger has tried to set him up with, no matter how much the money, he refuses. As the youngest sibling of the Peralta clan, he's seen each one of his sisters shipped off to marry some rich guy half way across the world. He's seen some of his brothers married off as well, the girls' fathers hoping to settle them down. But not him, and it never will be.Amy Santiago didn't even think that arranged marriages still happened in America. She was wrong. After her wealthy father falls into debt, he gets a proposal, for his daughter to marry Hunter Peralta in exchange for money and for Amy to have a stable life no matter what.Victor Santiago takes the deal, only wanting what's best for his daughter. She doesn't see it that way.- - -“The contract states that she has to marry a Peralta right? It never states a certain one?”Jake interrupts whatever their fathers were talking about.“What are you getting at Jake?” His dad asks.“You’ve always wanted me to be set up with someone, I want to marry her.”





	1. Prologue

“You need to be protected,” her father tells her.

“You’ll need more protection than me if you think you can do this!”

“It’s already been done.”

Amy blinks away the tears in her eyes, “What do you mean ‘it’s already been done’ what did you do?”

“He signed the papers, you can’t do anything about it now. It’s too late.”

Victor Santiago stood tall, not wavering under his daughter’s glare.

“You’ve ruined my life.”

“I did what I had to do,” he replies and takes a swig of his rum—straight from the bottle.

“This can’t be legal.”

“You are 17, so with your mother and I’s consent, it is.”

Amy gathers up what parts of her she can and takes one last stand against her father, “Is it because of the money?”

“You are too smart to fall into bankruptcy with your mother and I, you deserve the best.”

“No, we are a family, we can do this together.”

Victor swallows the last of his rum, “I am doing this because you are my family.”


	2. The Meet

The loud ring of his alarm clock woke him up, same as it did every morning. He slammed his hand down on the alarm clock, almost breaking it completely.

“Peralta!”

He rolls his eyes when his roommate screams his name. He doesn’t bother to answer.

“Peralta! Your dad is here!”

The sentence only pushes his stubbornness further, now he’s rooted to the bed and vows never to get up. The hinges of his bedroom door squeak as his father opens it and starts kicking clothes out of the way.

“You’d think after 21 years of living, you would learn how to wake up on time.” He doesn’t answer.

“Come on, it’s time to go,” His father repeats.

“Why do I even need to be there,” he complains as he throws on a shirt that seems clean enough.

“Your brother is nervous. It’s not everyday that he meets his future wife.”

“Who did you prey on this time? A weak family or one even richer one than ours?” Roger Peralta ignores his youngest, most naïve son.

“Jake, could you cut the theatrics for once and just do as I ask?”

“Just tell me one thing, is she being married against her will?”

His father chooses not to answer.

* * *

Jake reluctantly gets out of the car once they arrive at their destination.

His brother, Hunter, practically shoots out of the car, eager to meet his soon to be wife.

The boys’ father leads the way to a secluded booth in a empty restaurant.

Rodger ducks into the booth first, then Hunter, and finally Jake. The minutes that pass are filled with silent tension.

“Where is she?” Hunter asks impatiently as his father checks the rolex placed on his wrist. A smile graces Jake’s lips at the agitated pair.

His smile falters as seconds later a Cuban man strolls in, a significantly smaller girl behind him. Jake’s eyes widen, the smile completely wiped off his face at the sight of the girl, the youngest girl his father has got for one of his brothers.

Amy’s eyes connect with Jake’s wide ones, _he looks like a reasonable guy, maybe this won’t be so bad_ , she thinks to herself.

“Sorry we’re late, someone was being a hassle.” The Cuban man and the girl situate themselves across from the three men.

“Hunter, this is Amy Santiago, she has agreed to be your wife,” The sentence is simple and to the point, but incorrect. Amy doesn’t take this as an agreed marriage, much more a forced one.

Her eyes well up with tears when she realizes she will be marrying the older man of the two.

“Hi,” Hunter says, approaching conversation with his betrothed quite enthusiastically.

Tears accidentally spill from Amy’s eyes at the eagerness all over her fiancé’s face, she attempts to blink the tears away, but they just keep falling.

The parents start talking and she zones out for a few minutes, imagining her life from now on.

She wonders if she will cry when she is walking down the aisle, if her children will grow up in a loving home. Of course she would have to bear this man’s children, the thought alone making her cringe.

And when they discuss exactly how many children she will have, she snaps, “Please Dad! Don’t make me do this! I’m only 17!” Before her dad can even try to settle with her, she sprints from the booth.

They group sits in silence for a few moments before Jake speaks, “What were you thinking?” Jake spits at his father, “A 17-year-old girl marrying a 42-year-old guy? That’s low, even for you.”

Jake scoffs at the men, the same men that make him fight hard to be a cop every day of his life. “This is why I’m following my dream, to lock up scum like you.”

He storms out of the restaurant, more pissed than he’s ever been about his father arranging marriages. Sure he was angry when he watched all his sisters get shipped off to rich men, but they all took it, not once shedding a tear in front of him.

But this girl, Amy, she was shedding tears, lots of them.

He walks down the street, until he hears heart wrenching sobs coming from an alleyway. And he knows it’s her, Amy Santiago, the girl who is being forced into marriage.

He takes cautious steps into the dark alley, “You know, if you don’t want them to find you, you should quiet down.”

She looks up at him, and he takes note of the smudged makeup running down her face.

“I never wanted this,” She tells him, her eyes drifting down the alley, “This is New York. I thought I’d find my great love on a subway or something stupid like that. There’s so many people here, and I’m the one that has to marry a man twice my age.”

“This isn’t your fault, you don’t deserve this,” He replies and she moves her eyes back to him with a raised eyebrow. “My Dad is excellent at picking up a broken family. He can provide them with just about anything, as long as they have a daughter to spare.”

“Are you married yet?” She asks curiously.

“No, I refuse to marry a woman my dad picks.”

“I wish I could refuse, all I want is to be able to live. I worked so hard so I could make it into a good college.” She pauses for a few moments before continuing, “Do you think he would let me go?”

Jake knows his brother wouldn’t allow that. Hunter is getting older everyday, in fact, the soul purpose of their marriage would be for children.

He’s not going to lie to her, “No.”

More tears fall down her face as she accepts her life.

“Amy,” it’s her father who appears in the alley, “Please come back.”

Her father takes notice when she glances at Jake first, almost for approval. Jake nods at her and she gets up.

They start to walk back, and she makes sure to stay beside Jake.

“I’m Jake Peralta, by the way,” he says to her, “I’m Hunter’s younger brother.”

Amy doesn’t listen to the rest of the conversation once they are seated back in the restaurant.

She just stares at Jake with tear filled eyes. He looks back at her, the word sorry practically written all over his face.

Jake thinks that maybe he’s still in shock, which is why he accepts an idea he never thought he would.

“The contract states that she has to marry a Peralta right? It never states a certain one?”

Jake interrupts whatever their fathers were talking about.

“What are you getting at Jake?” His dad asks.

“You’ve always wanted me to be set up with someone, I want to marry her.”

“Jake, she is here for your brother-

“And I’m telling you that if I don’t marry her I will never marry anyone you pick for me.”

Roger purses his lips, considering the offer.

“Dad, you can’t seriously be considering this!” Hunter complains.

Jake glances at Amy, hope in her eyes. She know Jake would be a better husband for her than Hunter could ever be.

Of course, if she had it her way she wouldn’t be getting married.

Jake’s dad nods, “Would you be willing to agree to this, Victor?”

Victor nods and whispers in Amy’s ear, “Amy would you be okay with this?”

She glances at Jake, who has a soft, reassuring smile on his face.

_He’s good looking_ , she says to herself, _he’s been nothing but nice since I’ve met him_.

She nods and her dad takes her acceptance.

“Then it’s settled, Amy and Jake will get married.”

* * *

 

“You’re telling me that she can’t stay with her parents until she graduates at least?”

“It’s written in the contract that she goes with you, we can’t violate that,” Roger tries to tell his son.

“I want her to be able to stay with her parents until she graduates high school.”

“You should have thought of that before you signed the contract.” Amy sighs in defeat, like she has been all day.

“Is there anything else in that contract I should know about?” Jake asks angrily.

“Well there’s obviously no divorce, you have to have a minimum of two kids, those are really the only things you need to worry about.”

Amy pales thinking about having two kids with a man she barely knows.

Jake glances at her, and wonders if she’s doing okay so far.

He walks away from his father and goes to where she is sitting, “I’m sorry, I should’ve know to read it before signing it.”

“I don’t even accept terms and conditions without reading through them, if anyone is at fault here, it’s me.” Jake laughs, “You actually read the terms and conditions?”

“Don’t laugh!” She says even though she’s laughing too.

Jake glances over at his father, who is too busy talking to Victor to pay attention to them.

“You wanna get out of here?” He asks her, she smiles and gives him a nod in return.

They quietly sneak out of the room, and they turn towards the door. 

"Jake!" Roger's yell echos through restaurant.

Amy hastily grabs Jake's hand and runs out the door, "Come on!"

After they successfully distance themselves at least a few blocks away from their parents, Jake walks her towards his apartment.

"So... What do you like to do in your free time?" Jake asks.

"I like to organize."

Jake laughs, "You will not like my apartment, all my clothes are everywhere. My roommate cleans sometimes but it's usually sloppy cleaning."

Amy's face morphs into one of concern, "Oh god, really?"

" _But_ , I'll let you organize all you want, anything you want to move, you can. I promise."

She smiles at his words, "Thank you."

"It's really not a problem, I mean I think I'll get more out of a clean room than you," he smiles.

"I mean thank you, for everything. I know you don't owe me anything, but I owe you everything."

"I always wanted to save my sisters from arranged marriage, but I never could. And I know that marrying me won't change what my father is doing, but I believe that I can make you happy."

He shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets.

Amy stops walking beside him, "Jake, thank you for saving me."

She wraps him in a quick hug and he bends down to accommodate for her height.

"You're welcome, but does this count as pedophilia?"


	3. The Move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long y'all, I've literally been writing on it like every week, I just didn't know where I was going with it lol. But I'm updating this on the way to a volleyball game so catch ya later and wish me luck. :) 
> 
> (I promise I will try to update sooner now)

“Nice of you to return,” Roger sneers.

“I wanted to take my fiancée out is that such a crime?” Jake asks returning the harsh tone.

Roger grimaces at his son, “While you were gone we made some arrangements.”

Amy’s eyebrows furrow, “What kind of arrangements?”

“Don’t worry," Victor assures. Amy analizes him, wondering if she should trust his words anymore, if she could trust _anything_ he had to offer.

"I don't trust you."

It's a bold statement that shocks him. His daughter has always trusted him and his decisions.

He remembers promises he made to her as a child, as simple as promising to have mac and cheese for lunch to promising to take her to paris one day. He remembers his most important promise, the one he made to her the day she was born.

He told her he would do anything to make her happy.

That's what he was doing.

"You don't need to trust me. You need to understand."

The air gets cold around her, "I need to _understand_? Understand what, dad? I understand that you're selling your _child_ into marriage. I understand that you have no regard for my feelings in any of this. I understand that you think this is the right thing to do. _You_ need to understand that what you've done here is wrong."

Jake couldn't have voiced his feelings any more perfectly if he tried.

She said it all.

"Amy, there is not enough time in the world to rehash this conversation _again_. We are going to go through the fine details and find a mutual place for you to live before we leave this room. Do _both_ of you understand?" Victor cuts off the argument with determination.

"It's great that you two are hashing this out now out of all opportunities you had before this," Jake starts, "But, did you say a 'mutual place'? What about my apartment?"

"You share your apartment with another person, the best way to let this relationship thrive is if you two are alone. You know what they say, _two's company, three's a crowd_."

Jake glances at Amy and she nods, "Fine," he complies, "But we get to choose where."

Roger speaks up, "So you're suddenly in the mood to negotiate?"

Jake rolls his eyes and places himself next to Amy in a booth.

There's a silence between them, until Amy speaks.

"I don't mean any offence, but I'm kinda bummed I have to have your kids," She shrugs, he doesn't take any offence whatsoever, but he can't help but feel bad for her.

She knows that she will love her children no matter the father, they are still _hers_.

"I think I know a loophole," He winks. He doesn't want her to be forced to endure something that would most definitely be the most painful moment in her life.

Amy smiles at him, maybe in awe, maybe in excitement. Maybe both.

"Really?" She sounds breathless, excited.

He nods.

"It says we have to have two kids, never said they had to be biological."

"Adoption!" She squeals and pulls him into a hug.

Their hug is cut short when Victor interrupts, "How about this apartment?"

He shows them a place in Brooklyn, which was about 30 minutes away from where they currently reside.

Amy looks at the pictures her father pulled up, "What do you think?" She asks Jake.

He nods, "I like it, do you?"

"I love it."

* * *

It's three days later that they start packing up their things.

They were moving in to the new place as soon as possible. It wasn't that hard to get it with Roger's help.

"Do you need any help before I go to my apartment?"

Amy glances around her childhood bedroom, "No, I think I packed everything I need."

There were multiple boxes of clothes, which Jake noted most were professional looking, pantsuits, blouses, all sorts of plain clothes.

"Alright, I better get going," He sighs and wipes his hands on his jeans, "I've got a whole room to clean out and sort."

He's almost out the front door when she runs down the stairs and follows him.

"I want to repay the favor of helping me pack my stuff," She replies when he asks what she's doing.

 He smiles, "It was no problem really, it was kinda fun."

She smiles back at him and gets in the passenger seat.

The drive to his apartment is not a long one, only a couple blocks away really.

"New York is such a big place, but we lived near each other this entire time," She says in awe, glancing up at the apartment building that she walked past to get to school so many times.

"So," He says seriously, "My roommate doesn't know anything about us, I have told him about what my father has done with my siblings, but he doesn't think that I have anything to do with it. I can tell him if you're comfortable with that or I don't need to."

She mulls over his words, "How close are you with him?"

"I want him to be my best man," He replies instantly.

She nods to him, "I guess there's no point of us hiding it temporarily, he's going to find out later anyways." She shrugs.

He smiles, "Even though our marriage isn't ideal, he'll be thrilled for us."

She nods and they walk into the apartment.

They walk further in until Amy sees a short man cooking in their kitchen.

"Charles," Jake grabs his attention.

Charles glances over and stops what he's doing, "Hey Jake! Who's this?"

He smiles at Amy and she gives a short smile back.

"This is Amy Santiago, she's my fiancée."

He's silent for a while, "Your father got to you too?"

"It wasn't so much my father as it was her," He tells Charles.

Charles' pity suddenly morphs into a smile, "Jakey! That's so cute!"

Even though Jake warned Amy of this exact reaction, she can't help feeling so confused over his roommate.

"Hi, I'm Charles Boyle, Jake's best friend and roommate!"

He grabs her and Jake in a hug quickly.

"I'm so happy for you guys!"

Amy shoots her puzzled look to Jake, and he shrugs, as if saying ' _I told you so._ '

"Which leads to why we're here," Jake uses a soft voice, unsure how Charles will react to him moving out, "I'm moving out."

Charles barely thinks about it before giving a happy okay before simply turning back to the dish he was making.

"That's it? That's all I get for years of friendship?" Jake asks, clearly more upset about the move than Charles.

"Are you going to stop visiting? Are you going to prevent me by visiting you? We'll see each other all the time."

Jake stays quiet at his friend's words, of course Charles was right. They would never really be that far apart from each other.

"You're right," Jake sighs and moves away from the topic, not wanting to be upset over something he asked for.

"Of course I'm right," Charles scoffs, "When have I ever been wrong?"

Jake laughs and shakes his head, "More times than not."

Charles shoots Jake a glare but Jake isn't paying any attention, instead his eyes are focused on Amy, who was laughing at the two.

"I don't think I have ever seen a friendship like this one before, you two are awesome," She manages to say, though she's breathless from all the laughter.

Jake turns his head away for a moment, before his eyes find his way back to her.

"I'll miss you," Charles says in all seriousness, catching Jake's attention.

They hug each other for what seems like a long time, but they don't think so.

"When will you be out of here? Now I've got to find a new roommate," Charles asks as soon as they part.

"In a couple of days, really as soon as I get all my stuff and get it out, which is what we're here to do."

Charles nods, "In that case, I'm going to be putting an ad out for the apartment later today."

Jake nods and grabs Amy's hand, "Come on, my room is this way."

She follows closely behind him and blushes at the sight of their hands intertwined with each other.

Her blush disappears at the sight of his room.

"This is a trash pit."

He looks towards the ground, craning his neck shamefully, "I know, it's pretty bad."

"Pretty bad? This is awful! It will take hours!"

She was right, if they were going to do this the way that she wanted, it would take all night.

Jake would've thrown the clothes into a box, no folding whatsoever, but Amy would have killed him and redone it all herself.

They went through hours of sorting, talking the whole way through until they had finished most of the clothes.

"It will be so weird being married for my senior year," Amy breaks the momental silence between them.

"You're a junior? I thought you were already a senior."

"Nope,"

It was late February, so she would start her senior year in no time.

"That's crazy, and once again I've found another thing to hate about this little arrangement your father put you in."

"You and me both she laughs."

He glances at his alarm clock, reading 11:23 P.M.

"Jeez, it's really late."

She nods with a laugh and they continue their work.

"Amy? I forgot what box-"

He stops speaking when he notices her passed out on his bed, her head on his favorite pillow. Somehow, her auburn hair had managed to fall out of the tight bun she usually keeps it in, spreading her hair around her, making her look like the actual 17 year old girl she was.

He spared a glance for a moment longer, before finding the flannel box and passing out in the large bed next to her.


	4. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's NaNoWriMo! If you don't know what that is, it's national novel writing month, and I've chosen to write this story over the course of November, so be expecting more updates than you've been getting!

Amy woke up with a start, in an unfamiliar place.

Her head spun as she remembered laying on Jake's bed to close her eyes for a second.

She tried to get up, but the weight of Jake's arm had stopped her. Instead of peeling his arm off of her, she simply placed her hand over his and went back to sleep.

* * *

This time, it was Jake that woke up.

He took a quick scan of their intertwined bodies and noticed that they hadn't went under the covers at all over the course of the night.

He briefly wondered if she'd shared a bed with anyone else like this. The thought sprouted unwanted jealousy.

He shook his head, as if shaking the thought out, and quickly removed her hand from his and got out of the bed.

They packed all of his other clothes, so he had to shuffle around to find something suitable to wear today.

He showered and oddly enough, he was thinking about her (not in a weird sexual way, she was only 17).

He thought about the way she smiled when he told her a joke, the way she cried when she found out who she was going to marry, he thought about her. Every single thing he could think of that possibly led up to this moment. That led to his sprouting feelings for her.

He let the thought leave his mind and he finished his shower quickly.

He couldn't like her, not like _that_.

But he did.

He quickly dressed himself in jeans and a flannel, but found difficulty when he realized he picked up a flannel that was too small for him.

He left the bedroom to find a flannel that would fit, and found Amy awake, staring at the ceiling.

She glanced at him, her eyes lingering on his shirtless body longer than they needed to.

"Sorry, I picked up a flannel that was too small."

She stayed silent for a bit, "It's your bedroom."

He nods and quickly slips on a black and red flannel.

"Did we finish packing everything? Or do we need to do more?" Amy asks, rolling out of the bed.

Jake begins to button up his flannel, "We should be okay, I don't think that anything else is really mine." 

She nodded, "So today we start our lives."

He nods back, "You'll still be able to do anything you would have done before this, I want you to know that."

"Thank you, Jake."

"You don't have to thank me for being a decent human."

* * *

They moved into the new apartment quickly. Between them they didn't have much other than clothes.

Roger had bought them some furniture and appliances, which were beautiful.

The kitchen was full of stainless steel appliances, and the living room full of dark oak furniture.

"Do you like it?" Jake asks as she places her formal clothing in the closet directly across the bed they were meant to share together.

"It's beautiful," she replies, but doesn't give any further words.

He moves from his spot on the bed, which he would admit he was disappointed he wouldn't be sleeping in the bed. Maybe the couch was just as comfortable.

Probably not.

He walked into the kitchen, glancing around their new home.

"Damn," he sighs and places his head against the fridge door.

_What if this doesn't work?_

"Are you okay?" Amy asks from behind him.

Jake quickly lifts his head off the stainless steel, "Yeah, it's all good."

"People who are 'all good' typically don't stare at fridges."

"I promise," he smiles at her, " It's all good."

"You shouldn't lie to your fiancée, Jake," She jokes.

He would've laughed too, if he wasn't too caught up in her openly calling herself his fiancée.

"Are you hungry?" he interrupts.

"Yeah a little bit."

They don't have any food in their house yet, so making something is out of the question.

"Where do you want to go?"

That question is how they ended up in a grocery store, with Amy believing it's more important that they buy food for the apartment instead of going out.

"Pringles?" She asks.

"Yes."

The questions soon become a routine, with her asking if he wants it, and him usually saying yes.

"So, I know that you want to continue school, is there anything else I need to know?"

"I don't really know where I want to go to college, or if I even want to stay in New York," she tells him, putting all her trust in him not to say no.

Getting out of New York didn't seem like a bad idea to Jake, leaving their parents behind, leaving their contract behind.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to get out of here."

"Only if you would go with me."

He stops pushing the grocery cart and she turns to face him, "Only if I go with you? Why?"

"Even though I don't know you well, I trust you. I trust you more than my own father at this point," she sighs, "Plus you'll be my husband, and I want to make this work between us eventually."

He glances at her, his eyes wide, "Really?"

"Yes," She tells him honestly, "I know I've only known you for about a week, but I already know that you're a great person."

"Thanks, Amy."

* * *

They get back to the apartment more quick than not, "What should we do now?" Amy asks him.

It's only four in the afternoon on a Sunday, "Do you have any homework?" He sounds dumb, asking his 17 year old fiancee if she has homework? Ridiculous.

She nods and goes into the bedroom while Jake lays down on the couch (which turns out to be pretty comfortable) and turns on the television.

Amy comes out of their shared quarters soon after, wearing one of his many flannels with a pair of shorts. But that was not what surprised him, she was wearing glasses, and she had managed to let her hair out of it's usually pristine ponytail.

"You have glasses? Since when?"

She rolls her eyes at him, "Since I needed them," she replies with a smile.

She finds space on the couch next to his legs, "I can move if you want," Jake assures, to which she shakes her head.

"It's the perfect amount of space."

He nods and she starts to type away on her computer.

About an hour later he starts to make dinner, a simple dish of mac and cheese, one of his favorites.

He sets a bowl of it down for her on the coffee table, but it takes her a while to put her computer down to eat it.

It continues like this after dinner is done and cleaned it up, her click of the keyboard against the sound of the Die Hard movies playing in the background.

It's close to nine o'clock when she closes her laptop and sets it on the floor.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone spend that much time on homework in my life," he says, completely serious.

She lets out a laugh, "I had to catch up, usually I do a little bit everyday but I was busy this week."

"I would say getting engaged and moving in with a stranger can make someone busy."

"From personal experience, I can say yes, you're right."


	5. The Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My dumb ex bf and I were still into each other and I told him we could try again, all we had to do was talk. So this dumb boy decides to not talk to me and hang out and only talk to his two best friends during school, who may I add are girls.
> 
> Like legit a big thank u, next to him lol.
> 
> Drop ur dumb boy/girl problems in the comments.

She practically ran through the apartment, the excitement coursing through her veins.

"Someone's ready to go," Jake laughs.

"Yes!"

He slides a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of a seat on their island counter, "Eat."

She pours milk into the bowl and begins to eat, "I'm so excited!"

"Really? I didn't notice."

Amy had been trying her hardest to contain herself, but ever since she had thought she wasn't going to finish her education (which, Jake thankfully got in the way of) she decided she wasn't going to take high school for granted anymore.

"I don't think that anyone has ever been this excited about going to _school_ ," he grimaced at the last word, as if it was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

She walked over to her beats pill, the one she usually used to listen to music while studying, but instead played Bulletproof by La Roux.

"This song? Really?"

"I'm burning bridges shore to shore," she sings, taking the spoon out of her cereal to use as a microphone, "This time baby, I'll be, bulletproof!"

"I'd really hate to get a noise complaint this early in our lease."

Her draw drops open in fake surprise, "I'm a wonderful singer! These people are blessed if they can hear this beautiful voice."

He nodded, "Do you really think so at seven in the morning?"

She glanced up at him through her lashes, "Probably not."

"That's what I thought."

Time passed quickly when it was just the two of them, and Amy was starting to notice. Even though it had been a little over a week, she slipped into a comfortable routine with him.

She loved spending time with him, after all, he was funny, kind, and a gentleman. She couldn't have lucked out more in an arranged marriage if she tried.

In that moment, Amy vowed to herself that she wouldn't just stand by and let their relationship take its natural course, she would work with him, she would work _for_ him.

For _all_ of him.

* * *

All her friends gawked as she said goodbye to Jake in the school parking lot.

She knew he was good looking, it was also a bonus that he was a college boy, which had her friends' jealousy eating them up.

 _Just wait until they find out I'm engaged to him._ She thought to herself. It would be a treat to explain that one.

"I would say have a good day, but I know you already are," Jake chuckles.

She glanced at the electric clock on his dash, that displayed only ten minutes before the start of class. Was it a problem that she didn't want to leave? She didn't think so.

"Have fun at class," he said and smiled at her.

"You already know I will."

She stood outside the passenger door and stared at the school building for a couple of seconds.

"Amy, I know how grateful you are to be going to school, but do you have to stare at it?" Jake pointed out with humor.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Let me live my life, Jake."

She finally walks away from the car, Jake watching her every move.

"Who is that?" Her friend Rosa asked skeptically as she approached.

Her other friends, Isabelle and Olivia, intently watched the girl's exchange.

"His name is Jake, and he's," she pauses, "He's a friend of the family."

Rosa glances at the other two, whose interest was lost after 'friend of the family'. She looks at Amy, doubt in her eyes, but doesn't say anything anyways.

"Let's get to class," Rosa inputs, still watching Amy closely.

Amy works her way through her classes, Composition first, Band next, then Economics, and lastly Yearbook.

She walked out of the school, as content as she felt last night, doing her homework with Jake next to her.

"I'll walk with you," Rosa said while sliding her jacket over her shoulders.

Amy stopped in front of the bike rack, "Actually, Jake is here to pick me up."

Although it was a short distance between their new apartment and the school, he told her that he wanted to hear all about it on the short ride home.

"You only live like six blocks away, why do you need a ride home?"

"Look Rosa, I've got to go."

And with that, Amy left her friend by the bikes.

"How was it? Everything you've ever dreamed of?"

"Yes, how'd you know?" Her answer hadn't come off as excited as she wanted it to sound, but he didn't seem to notice.

He just continued smiling and pulled out of the parking lot.

She caught a glance of Rosa's back, walking down her old street and she felt the slightest bit of guilt for not telling her best friend what was really happening in her life.

She looked out the window for the rest of the 30 second ride.

As they walked up the steps to their apartment, Jake knew something was up. Her dynamic went from a 10 to a near 0.

It isn't until later, when he's doing college work beside her, that anything gets said.

"Is everything okay?" Jake asks, shutting down his computer and closing it shut.

She sighs and takes her glasses off, "You promise you won't get upset at me?"

"Why would I ever be upset with you?" He asks, his eyebrows scrunched at his forehead.

"I don't know you well enough to gauge your reaction." She shrugs, but continues anyways. "I didn't tell my friends about what happened over the past week, and I can tell they already know something is going on."

"I'm not upset with you, first off," He reassures her, "And I know that eventually you'll have to tell them, but if they're your friends, they can wait to know until you're ready to go public with what is happening."

Amy glances at him, tears in her eyes, "I don't know if I'll ever be ready for this."

He moves closer to her and wraps her in a hug, "I know it's hard, you're only 17 and if I could, I would get you out of this."

"You've already saved me enough times in the past week, Jake," she chuckles, "If you did anymore, you'd become my personal Superman."

"That's my goal," he smiles cheesily.

She smiles back, her tears long gone.

"I'll make some pudding and we can watch Training Day, how does that sound?" Jake asks her and untangles himself from her warm body.

She felt cold without him, "It sounds great."

He quickly made pudding as she set up the movie on their brand new television set, a gift from Roger. It would take less time to list the things they didn't get from Roger.

He sat down on the couch, setting two bowls of chocolate pudding on the coffee table.

By the time they hit the middle of the movie, their pudding was gone and Amy's eyes were drooping heavily.

"Amy?"

She tiredly glances at him, the dim lighting reflecting off his face perfectly in her opinion.

She leaned into him, her eyes falling shut, and she pressed her lips on his.

She had only kissed one other boy, so she was a little on the inexperienced side of things.

He stayed still, his eyes wide. She began to pull away from him, until he realized what was going on,  _Amy Santiago was kissing him_.

He moved into action, wrapping his arms around her, moving his lips against hers.

She crawled further unto him, laying his back against their couch. Their lips parted, and she leaned her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled to him, and before anything else could be said, she fell asleep on his chest.

* * *

 "Oh god, what was I thinking?" Amy ran her hands through her hair frantically, unsure of what to do with herself.

She quickly showered, thinking about what the repercussions of the kiss might be.

_Will he be mad?_

_Did he like it?_

Every detail of the kiss was foggy in her mind, she was so tired, she barely picked up what had happened.

She she showered and changed slowly than she normally would have, afraid to face Jake.

When she had nothing else to do, she finally stepped out of the bedroom and walked down the short hall. To her surprise, their connected kitchen and living room were empty.

There had been no sign of Jake.

She walked to the fridge and read the note that Jake left on it early that morning.

_ I have early classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. _

_ I'll be home by the time school is over. _

_ -Jake _

She quickly fixed herself a bowl of Lucky Charms and soon left for school.

She walked to school, the three blocks gave her a good amount of time to think about what had happened, and what she was going to say.

Once she arrived at school she made quick work of finding her black haired friend, Rosa, and dragging her into an empty classroom.

"Jake is my fiance," Amy said, cutting to the chase.

Rosa was normally one of minimal emotions, but this news showed her surprise all too well.

"I'm sorry,  _ what did you just say _ ?"

Amy took a deep breath, "Jake is my fiance," she said slowly, trying to let it sink in.

The bell rang for homeroom, but neither of them moved, Rosa was too stunned, and Amy was trying to gauge her reaction.

"Explain.  _ Now _ ."

Amy tells the story, show she was supposed to marry Hunter, but got Jake. How miserable this situation was, no matter how lucky she was to be with Jake. She tells her about the apartment, she tells Rosa everything. Most of all she tells Rosa about Jake. Although, she did leave out the kiss.

"He's so amazing Rosa, he hasn't even known me a full two weeks and already told me if I wanted to go to college outside of New York, he'd go with me."

Rosa (of course) wasn't swooning over Jake or anything, but she was going to admit that he sounded like a pretty great guy, "I want to meet this guy after school."

Before Amy could say a word, Rosa was out of the room, leaving for first period.


	6. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's been a hot 4 months, my bad.
> 
> Been kinda busy with some dumb stuff.

Rosa and Amy walked to Amy's apartment silently.

Amy hadn't given Jake a warning that Rosa was coming over, but she didn't think it would be a big deal. Besides, oddly enough she didn't have Jake's cell phone number.

Their shoes slapped against the sidewalk, Amy focused on the click of Rosa's black leather heels, while her wedges made a heavier sound.

She breathed deeply as she unlocked their apartment with her key and pushed the door open.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and Jake was sleeping on the couch, Die Hard playing in the background.

Amy shook her head, "He had to wake up early this morning."

Rosa snorted, "Die Hard?"

Amy's eyebrows furrowed, "We just watched that on Sunday, it's his favorite movie."

Rosa nods and drops her bag on the floor, which Amy picked up and hung on the coat rack next to her own bag.

Rosa's heels echoed through the apartment as she walked towards the couch. Amy didn't follow her, instead gauging her reaction to Jake.

"Well, on the positive side, he's not ugly."

Amy takes that as a good sign and joined Rosa to look at Jake, after all, she had never really seen him while he was asleep.

He looked just as cute as she imagined. His legs were curled up, his mouth parted and his face relaxed. To her he seemed like an angel, correction, he was her angel.

As the look of adoration crossed her face, Jake's eyes fluttered open and he took a sharp breath.

"What's going on?" He asks, throwing a questionable look at Amy, "Who is this scary lady?"

Rosa smirked, "I like him."

"This is my friend, Rosa," she told him, "Rosa, this is my fiance, Jake."

Although Rosa had already knew that information, Amy said it as a way to tell Jake that Rosa knew what was going on.

"You told her?" He was surprised, not to say happy that she felt comfortable telling her friends about their relationship.

"Yes."

Amy knew that telling Rosa meant something. Rosa was her best friend, and even though ideally she should be able to tell Rosa anything, that wasn't always the case. She trusted Rosa with this information, and that what was happening right now, it was nice for Jake to know there was someone out there that she could talk to.

"I'm going to cut to the chase, Jake. I don't like people, but I like Amy, if you hurt one of the few people I tolerate, I will hurt you back," There was no such thing as lack of authority for Rosa and Jake could tell from the way she spoke.

"I won't hurt her, ever."

Aside from stepping into Hunter's place as her husband, she hadn't heard him use that tone. The tone that meant business.

Rosa nodded, "This has been fun, but I've got a bike to fix."

Rosa swiftly took her bag off of the coat rack and left.

"Well, she seems nice?" Jake questioned himself, struggling to find a word for Rosa, "Why did she leave so quickly?"

Amy shrugged, "That's just Rosa, always has somewhere to be with something to do."

"She's like a nomad."

"That's one way to describe it," Amy laughs.

Jake couldn't keep his thoughts down any longer. He desperately wanted to know about the kiss.

Unfortunately, Jake didn't know her well enough to read her, and that was a problem. He didn't know if she even remembered kissing him, or maybe she thought it was a dream? If that was the case, he hoped she thought it was a good dream.

They stayed in silence for only a bit longer until Amy went towards the door to take her shoes off and set them on the rug.

"Don't take your shoes off yet," Jake tells her and jumps up from the couch, "We're gonna go somewhere."

Not even ten minutes later, Jake parked in front of an old diner.

To Amy it seemed like a dragged down place, but to Jake, it was the best food in Brooklyn.

Jake walked in and sat down, already seeming to know the place like the back of his hand.

Jake didn't really have any nerve when it came to Amy, and he didn't want to ask her about the kiss if she didn't remember it.

Amy tried to give off no indication that she was nervous as hell because of what happened.

So there they were, both sat awkwardly in the booth, neither of them talking to each other.

"How was class this morning?" She asked him, stirring the cherry coke that she ordered with a grilled cheese sandwich.

"It was good, I had lots of fun," he replied casually, the conversation ending there.

She couldn't handle playing it off any longer, and she finally snapped, "I'm sorry."

His eyes widened.

_Was she talking about the kiss?_

He hoped so.

"For what?" He asks, assuming it would be safer to play dumb than anything else.

She glances around the diner, making sure no one is listening, "For kissing you."

He stays silent the a short amount of time, "It's fine."

" _It's fine_?" She asks, her eyebrows scrunched together.

He sighs, "I mean that it's okay, I didn't mind it," he shrugs.

_He didn't mind it_.

She nodded, unsure how to take the information he provided.

"I'm so sorry, I'm bad at this," he sighed, "What I mean to say is that I'm alright with the idea of kissing you."

She felt her heartbeat rise, becoming more prominent with his words.

"I'm alright with kissing you too." 

* * *

It only takes a short amount of time for them to go back to their normal talking, the kiss not forgotten, but yet to be repeated.

"What do you want to do today?" Amy asks as Jake makes breakfast on a bright Saturday morning.

He shrugs, "I don't know, we can watch a movie or something?"

"Sounds fun, as long as it's not Die Hard."

He glances up from the pancakes on the stove, "Die Hard is the best cop movie of all time, you would be blessed to watch it."

"In that case, I've been blessed over a million times within the two weeks of living here."

He glanced up at her forgetting about the pancakes for a moment, "Fine, you choose the movie today."

She nods, rising from her seat to go look at their combined collection of movies.

"Do you like superheroes?" She asks, pulling the Avengers movie out of the stack.

"Yeah," he shrugs, putting pancakes onto a plate.

"Good, we're gonna have a Marvel marathon."

He shrugs, "Marvel is good."

"Marvel is  _good_?" she doesn't necessarily glare, but it's not a nice look she sends his way.

"I don't spend a lot of time watching movies," he shrugs and places some pancakes on a plate.

_Bullshit,_ she thinks, _you watch Die Hard on a loop everyday._

"I can't believe I agreed to marry you," She jokes, and he smiles at her.

"The one flaw I have is a deal breaker?" He asks her, feigning hurt.

" _One_?" She questions and looks at him skeptically.

"One. I have one flaw."

She shakes her head and pops in The Avengers.

Jake had read some of the comics when he was younger, but he wasn't much of a movie watcher.

"Who's your favorite Avenger?" He asks her, bringing over her pancakes topped with butter and syrup, just how she likes it.

"Probably Iron Man, what about you?"

He moves back into the connected kitchen to grab his plate, "Probably Thor."

She makes a face, "Why Thor?" she asks him.

"He's the God of Thunder, plus, have you seen Thor: Ragnarok, it's perfect."

He sits onto the couch, while she is on the floor, feet under the coffee table and back reclined against the couch.

They sit quietly as the movie begins to play. Eventually, they both finish their pancakes, and Amy curls up next to him on the couch.

They gradually move closer, showing the more intimate side of their relationship. Soon, Amy falls asleep. Jake follows not long after her.


End file.
